I once saw in a catalog an air freshener with the “new-car smell.” I’ve never seen an air freshener with the “just-painted smell.” Decorators say that the easiest way to “freshen” a room is to paint it, but no one likes the smell of new paint. We even pay more for paints marketed as low odor. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

Hydrotherapy has come a long way since its inception in the 1800s. Until the Jacuzzi Brothers came out with the first home unit in the 1950s, hydrotherapy was used in hospitals, mostly for patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The first unit was revolutionary in its day but primitive by today’s standards. It was a pump that hooked onto the edge of an existing bathtub to create the whirlpool effect. In the 1960s Jacuzzi came out with a whirlpool similar to the ones we know today. That unit had integral... more

Looking to get more living space out of your home and don’t know whether to go up, down, or out? We asked Anne DeWolf, co-owner and designer of Arciform LLC for her advice on what a homeowner needs to know before you “go below.” This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

The Arts & Crafts or Craftsman movement came to the U.S. from England around the early 1900s as a reaction to the “soulless machine-made production” of the Industrial Revolution with the belief that aesthetics would help society to be more “rational and harmonious.” Many tile artisans considered the machine as the cause of “repetitive and mundane evils” and encouraged the movement towards handcraft work. The goal was for more authentic design and decoration. Design elements of this... more

Interior decorating books recommend perfectly matching the colors of paint with existing decor. As the gallons of unused paint turned in for recycling reveals, matching colors is easier said then done. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

Since the dawn of time the natural process of convection has been the most energy-efficient method of heat transfer. With the many benefits of convection heating, it is clear why people have for so long followed the lead of nature by letting convection electric heaters warm their homes. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

When it comes to carpentry, I would have to say that stair building requires a very high degree of skill. It is generally not a do-it-yourself activity unless you have skill, patience, tools, and money — the latter because of the likelihood of miscuts and of needing to buy more parts. So it is generally advised, when redoing your stairs or building new stairs, to hire a carpenter who specializes in stairs. This is just a preview...Read the rest... Read More →

Shrinking polar ice caps, rising sea levels, ever-riskier oil and gas extraction — how, as responsible home dwellers and builders can we respond to these problems? Certainly we reclaim and recycle materials and strive to meet green building standards like LEED to make careful materials choices for our homes. But what can we do to ensure that our living spaces are embedded in sustainable patterns of community life? And how, as we emerge from recession, can we also sustain ourselves and our local... more